Recovering
by Catsrawesome
Summary: Misty always thought that Ash was just ignorant and obtuse, and she wasn't alone. She never would have guessed that his lack of brain cells was caused by something much more sinister. But when they run into a figure from Ash's past, they find a way to help him get back what he once lost. But is that really what Misty wants? After all, it's the only thing protecting HER secret. AAML
1. Here We Go Again

**Hello everyone! This is my first Pokémon story! I'm so excited!**

 **So, this takes place after the Johto Silver Conference, so Ash's team is Pikachu (duh), Bayleaf, Totodile, Cyndaquill, Phanpy, and Noctowl, and he is still traveling with Brock and Misty. This can take place anytime after the Conference, as long as it is before they trio parts. You can decide, it doesn't really matter.**

 **So, I worked really hard on this chapter, and I had a lot of fun writing it! I hope you like it as much as I do!**

"I'm gonna win next time, I promise! From now on, I'm gonna train twice as hard, and devote everything to practicing! Well, except when I have to eat, because, you know, I have to eat. But when I am not eating, I will definitely be training!"

Misty had to struggle hard against the urge to take out her mallet.

Ash had been going on like this for about an hour. At first, Misty had taken this as a good sign, as it had been a much more positive approach to his loss in the Johto League Silver Conference than his loss in the Indigo Plateau. It was a sign that Ash really was going to be okay, and that even without her, he will continue to get better and strive for the title of Pokémon Master.

Though after the first ten minutes, it started to come out more as an annoying buzz to Misty (as Ash, being the forgetful person he was, often mentioned the same things more than once). After thirty minutes, Misty could feel her eye begin to twitch, almost comically. As the hour drew to a close, she found her hand clenching and unclenching without her noticing, probably missing the familiar weight of her main weapon (and wanting desperately to put her poor ears out of their misery). Even her Togepi seemed to be bored out of her mind.

Misty could sense similar feelings towards Ash from their other brown-haired companion. Brock had done his best to shower Ash with praise during the first five minutes of Ash's self-improvement speech, though he certainly regretted it, as his words had been like fuel to Ash's fire of a speech. A frying pan in his right hand had managed to catch Misty's attention (and, though Misty felt a bit guilty for thinking this, she hoped that maybe one hit could be enough to knock the yapping boy unconscious).

Pikachu was the only one who wasn't at all bothered with Ash's everlasting conversation with himself. In fact, every time Ash got to an important part or made a point, Pikachu's cheeks would spark with excitement, letting out a cheerful, "Pikapi!" every once in a while. It seemed to be drinking every last of Ash's words, and was hoping to pick up on Ash's new fighting spirit, so to not let down his best friend next time.

"Hey! This looks like a great place to stop!" Brock said, and Misty thought she heard a bit of desperation in his voice.

"Um, yeah!" Misty said, checking the surrounding area in hope that there was, in fact, such place in close proximity.

"Really?" Ash was suddenly brought back to reality, though Brock's announcement seemed to only further excite him, "Oh, great! Hey everyone! It's lunch time!"

With one smooth motion of someone doing it a million times over, Ash grabbed five pokeballs from inside his jacket and threw them into the air. Right as they reached the peak in their flight, they all opened, letting out a bright, red light, which gathered on the ground and took on the five forms which Ash came to know as his friends.

"Bay!" A large green Pokémon with a large leaf atop her head immediately expressed her affection for her trainer as she ran up to him and nuzzled her head against his chest. Ash returned the gesture by wrapping his Bayleaf in a warm hug.

"Hey, Bayleaf! Great to see you, too!"

Ash turned his attention to his other Pokémon. Totodile was dancing, whether he was celebrating the fact that it was lunch time, or that he had been released from his pokeball, or that he just simply wanted to dance was unknown (though Ash had a hunch that it was the latter). Phanpy seemed to pick up on Totodile's happy mood, as Phanpy was flapping its ears playfully and calling out its name happily. Once the shimmering had settled down, Noctowl perched itself on Ash's head, who laughed and gave it a friendly pat on the head. Pikachu, not wanting to weigh down the Pokémon trainer, jumped from Ash's shoulder and went to talk to Cyndaquill, who was squealing its name and taking in its new surroundings.

Misty and Brock took out their own pokeballs, probably in order to release their own Pokémon, but they were interrupted by a familiar voice.

"QUIET YOYSELVES OR WE'LL BE CAWT!"

This was followed by two loud smacks, then two yelps from two even more familiar voices.

"Team Rocket?" Ash said, not believing (and not wanting to believe) his ears. Pikachu automatically too up a fighting stance in front of him, his Pokémon companions close behind, ready in case he needed backup.

Another smack was heard, this time pain being expressed by the familiar voice of Meowth.

"Hey, whatcha do that for, huh?"

"For giving us away!" Jessie's angry voice came out as more of a growl, and the three eavesdroppers sweatdropped.

"Well, at least we can do the motto early," James, being the positive one he was, pointed out.

"Oh yeah!" Jessie said, her anger before having completely diminished with the mention of their motto. With that, she stood up.

"Prepare for trouble, we're here to steal Pikachu."

James took this as his cue to join her.

"And make it double, because after that, we will steal your food!"

"But I didn't even make it yet," Brock said, frowning.

"Oh," James said, a bit disappointed. This was rewarded with a loud slap to the back of the neck from his pink-haired companion.

"Continue the motto, you fool!"

"Oh, right!"

"To protect the world from devastation!"

"To unite all people's within our nation!"

"To denounce the evil's of truth and love!"

"To extend our reach to the stars above!"

Jessie struck a pose.

"Jessie!"

James, in turn, posed beside her, remembering to keep a bit of distance ("As a woman of quality, I need my personal space!" James cringed as he remembered the incident that had caused her lecture).

"James!"

"Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now, or prepare to fight, fight, fight!"

A third figure, in the form of a little Meowth, jumped in front of the first two and crossed his arms.

"Meowth, that's right!"

A small pop was heard as a second Pokémon emerged from its pokeball.

"Wooo-bafet!" it cried out, its hand in front of his forehead in a salute.

The four of them turned to see their audience's reaction, but were shocked to see that there was no one there. Frantically looking around for them, they spotted the small group a good fifty feet away, bored expressions dawning their faces.

"Hey! You get back here!" Jessie yelled, her furious mood back once again.

"Wobafet!" the Patience Pokémon exclaimed.

"Who asked you to join the party?" Jessie asked to no one in particular as she returned the blue Pokémon, letting out a tired sigh.

"Then again, maybe that wasn't such a good place to stop," Misty said, rubbing her temples to try to rid of her headache, which had come back in full swing.

"I agree," Brock replied, "Let's go somewhere else."

"How about there?" Meowth called out, pointing to a spot right under the group's feet.

"What?" Ash wondered out loud, stopping in his tracks.

Wrong move.

Suddenly, the ground below the group collapsed, sending dirt, rocks, people, and Pokémon alike into its depths. They all landed with a dull thud, wincing and rubbing their sore spots. Jessie's malicious laughter could be heard above them.

"You're brilliant, Meowth!" she praised the cat-like Pokémon.

"Thank you. I knew how much the twerps hated the motto-"

"Which I still don't understand," James added.

"-so they would want to get away from us as soon as possible. Luckily, after much careful planning, we managed to calculate the exact direction where you would go, and exactly where you would stop! So we dug the pitfall, and waited for you to arrive!"

Brock let out another groan, though this wasn't from the pain. He had to admit, it was a good plan.

"I will never doubt you again, Meowth!" Jessie exclaimed, while James nodded eagerly to express his agreement.

"Aw, shawks," Meowth said, rubbing the back of his neck, though he seemed pleased with himself.

"Jimmy might have been wrong about the food, but a good Pikachu to go will buy us enough food to last us a lifetime!"

With that statement, Meowth whipped out a grappling hook and extended the arm, catching a startled Pikachu in its grasp. With one last cry to its trainer, it was hoisted out of the hole.

"Pikachu!" Ash exclaimed, getting to his feet with a new sense of urgency, "Bayleaf, use Vine Whip to get us out of the hole!"

Bayleaf obeyed at once, extending two long vines and wrapping them gently but securely around her trainer and carrying him out of the hole. As Ash was set down, he let out a gasp as he saw a large hot air balloon with a Meowth design floating majestically into the sky. He could just make out Jessie, James, and Meowth, and had to squint to make out the faint, though unmistakable yellow speck that was Pikachu.

"Pikachu, use Thunder!"

Ash heard the faint sizzling of electricity, though the Team Rocket members seemed to be unaffected, which could only mean one thing.

"I'm hurt by how lowly you think of us!" James shouted from the balloon, "Our very bodies have to be electricity proof by now with all the protection we have, and this cage is no exception!"

Ash gritted his teeth. He hated how he forgot that small detail every time. He decided to switch tactics.

"Ok, Noctowl! Use Sky Attack!"

The confident smirk on the uniformed evil-doers was replaced with one of horror as they saw the owl Pokémon fly out of the hole they had dug and fly straight at them, its body beginning to glow.

"Um, James, is this balloon protected against Sky Attacks?" Jessie asked, trying to find some kind of hope for their situation.

"Afraid not," James replied, having already painfully accepted that they were beaten.

Noctowl's attack sliced a large hole into the Meowth balloon, and the passengers screamed as they started falling towards the ground.

"Pikachu! I'm coming!" Ash shouted, running towards the balloon's early pitstop.

"Ash! Wait for us!" Brock yelled, having just been hoisted out of the balloon by Bayleaf, who was now attending Misty.

"PIKACHU!" Ash, ignoring Brock's shouting, quickened his sprint. His Pokémon (including Bayleaf, who had hoisted herself out with one last Vine Whip) were trailing close behind him, Misty and Brock bringing up the rear. Togepi seemed to be enjoying the new excitement, squealing its name with delight as it bounced in Misty's arms.

A loud crash was heard as the balloon crash-landed hard into the ground. As it was a larger descent than the one Ash and company had to endure with the pitfall, it took them much longer to gather the strength to get up. However, Ash's voice was all the encouragement they needed.

"GIVE ME MY PIKACHU!" he screamed, a glint in his eye more terrifying than any Intimidate. The Team Rocket members let out a small yelp, struggling to stitch up the balloon before their attacker arrived. Unfortunately, they hadn't gotten two stitches in before they were knocked down by a Body Slam from a large (and certainly heavy) Bayleaf, quickly followed by a Water Gun from Totodile who, despite the situation, was as cheerful as ever.

"Great, now you ruined my hair!" Jessie complained, wringing out her damp locks.

"Bayleaf, use Razor Leaf on the cage to release Pikachu!" Ash commanded. Bayleaf nodded and started shooting sharp, green leaves towards the cage holding the yellow Pokémon, which broke as soon as the leaves came in contact with it.

"Pikapi!" Pikachu called out, running into its trainer's arms.

"Great to see you too, buddy," Ash said, hugging his friend, "Now, hit them with a Thunderbolt!"

With a start, Team Rocket realized that Totodile's Water Gun had soaked them to the core, and they knew all too well that water conducts electricity. They let out one last scream as sparks of electricity arose from Pikachu's cheeks. Pikachu leaped into the air, let out one last cry of its name, and send a powerful and well-aimed Thunderbolt towards Team Rocket. Then anticipated explosion sent Team Rocket flying.

"WE'RE BLASTING OFF AGAIN!" they screamed as they disappeared into the sky, becoming nothing more than a star in the distance.

However, Ash could never have anticipated the explosion hitting _their_ side. With their screaming mixing in with the faint cries of the Team Rocket members, Ash, his friends, and his Pokémon were all sent in the opposite direction. However, it was deemed fated that the Pokémon would be separated from his trainer, as Ash's Pokémon all went flying in a separate direction from the rest.

"NO!" Ash screamed, trying to grab ahold of them, "BAYLEAF! TOTODILE! PIKACHU!"

But it was no use. They were already out of his line of sight before Ash made contact with the ground and blacked out.

* * *

Being used to hard landings, since he had been battling almost his entire life, Pikachu managed to recover quickly.

The first thing he did was check up on the other Pokémon. Bayleaf and Phanpy were already on their feet and helping out the others like Pikachu, though this didn't surprise Pikachu. Cyndaquill and Totodile had a bit more trouble, but with Bayleaf and Pikachu's assistance, they were fine. However, Noctowl seemed to have taken the most damage, as it took all of Phanpy's strength to get him to his feet. Pikachu took this as his cue to take charge.

"Is everyone okay?" he asked everyone, speaking in the language only Pokémon could understand.

"Never better!" Totodile replied immediately, giving Pikachu a warm smile and doing a little dance, most likely to brighten the mood. Bayleaf rolled her eyes.

"Why are you always so happy?" Bayleaf questioned.

In reply, Totodile simply shrugged and continued with his jig.

"Phanpy, how's Noctowl?"

"He's pretty beaten up," Phanpy said, looking at Noctowl with sad eyes, "I guess he isn't used to hard landing like that, since he is almost always in the air."

"I'm fine, really," Noctowl said, giving himself a little shake and flapping his wings, managing to hover but still in obvious pain.

"I've got you." Bayleaf extended a vine and gently grabbed Noctowl, placing him on her back. Noctowl sent her a grateful smile before settling himself in a more comfortable position.

"What do we do now?" Cyndaquill asked, her voice quiet. It was obvious that she was a bit nervous.

"Well, we obviously have to find Ash and the others!" Pikachu said, "Come on, let's get looking!"

The others seemed happy with his answer, as they cheered and started walking towards Pikachu. Satisfied with his companions' attitude, he started to walk.

"WAIT!"

Everyone walked into each other, surprised at the sudden screech from Phanpy. She smiled sheepishly at all the confused looks that were sent her way.

"What was that for?" Bayleaf said, a bit annoyed.

"I thought I heard something," Phanpy replied.

"What do you mean, noises?" Pikachu asked, trying to keep his patience in check. All he wanted was to find Ash, and he couldn't care less about some stupid little noise from some random wild Pokémon.

"Maybe it's a dangerous and powerful wild Pokémon!" Cyndaquill said, looking fearful.

"Maybe it's a ghost!" Totodile said with a mischievous look in its eye. Cyndaquill shuddered.

"I'm sure it's not a ghost," Pikachu said, sending a glare Totodile's way (he felt a sense of pride when Totodile cowered slightly under his strong gaze), "and no wild Pokémon in this forest could stand up to all of us. Do you doubt Ash's training?"

"No, sir!" Bayleaf responded, the others shaking their heads.

"Well then, pull yourself together! We have to get moving or we will never find Ash!"

The Pokémon now seemed scared of Pikachu's behavior, as they didn't even respond. Pikachu now felt guilty. After all, these were his friends.

"I'm sorry for sounding bossy," Pikachu apologized, "I just really want to find Ash! Don't you?"

The others didn't respond. Pikachu was starting to get a bit fed up.

"Come on guys, pull yourselves together! I'm not that scary, am I?"

And then, with one shaky movement, Totodile raised and arm and pointed behind Pikachu, who understood all too late. He whipped around to see a pair of silvery, sinister eyes staring right back at him, right before something large and black came out of the bushes and attacked.

 **Wow, starting my first chapter with a cliffie. I am really bad at first impressions, aren't I?**

 **I hope you don't hate me and stay tuned for future chapters! I am definitely gonna work on chapter 2 right after I post this! Thank you for reading, and YOU ARE AWESOME!**

 **Catsrawesome**


	2. The Difference Between Friend and Foe

**Wow! Two updates in one day! I'm on a roll!**

 **Ok, just so you aren't all confused, in this story, Ash and Misty are both 13 and Brock is 25. Just to clear things up.**

 **Anyway, enjoy! THE PLOT BEGINS TO UNFOLD!**

Pikachu could barely hear Cyndaquill's scream, or Totodile calling out his name, or the Razor Leaf Bayleaf had just launched that missed them by inches. He could only hear the heavy breathing of the monster on top of him and the beating of his own heart. He struggled to control himself so he could launch an electric attack towards the newcomer that was currently pinning him down. He saw sharp, white teeth, and Pikachu braced himself for what was sure to be a Bite attack.

Pikachu felt something wet grace his cheek.

Pikachu blinked. Bite attacks weren't normally wet like that, and they normally hurt a _lot_ more than that. He turned to his companions, who were looking at the black Pokemon on top of Pikachu with shock. Finally, the Pokémon got off of Pikachu and allowed him to get up. What he saw made him adopt an expression similar to the one his friends had.

Pikachu had misjudged its size by a longshot. It was slightly bigger than almost all of them, but still smaller than Bayleaf. It had black fur, silver eyes, and rings on the outside of its legs, around its tail and two ears, and on its forehead. Pikachu recognized the Pokémon immediately, as Ash's rival and friend, Gary, had one himself.

Though there was one major difference. The rings on its fur were blue.

"New friends! New friends!" the Umbreon shouted with glee, jumping around.

"Friends?" Bayleaf didn't seem very pleased with the new title, "You just attacked Pikachu! No friend would tackle other friends!"

"Didn't you once tackle Ash after you evolved?" Totodile asked her.

"SHUT UP!" Bayleaf screamed, which was met with a chuckle from Noctowl. The Umbreon suddenly noticed the Pokémon on Bayleaf's back, and her eyes widened.

"SHINY!" she suddenly shouted, making everyone jump.

"Shiny?" Pikachu questioned, " What's shiny?"

"That Noctowl!" the Umbreon stated, as if it was obvious, "Milla would love it! I have to go tell her!"

"Wait, hang on a second!" Pikachu shouted. The Umbreon, who had just started to run, stopped and turned around to face him.

"What is it?" she asked.

"What do you mean, 'Milla would love it'? Who's Milla?"

The Umbreon seemed all too happy to tell us.

"Milla is my trainer, the most skilled Pokémon trainer in the world!" she said, pride dripping from her tone.

Bayleaf rolled her eyes, which didn't come unnoticed by the Umbreon.

"You don't believe me?" she asked.

"I never said that," Bayleaf retorted.

"But you thought it. You doubt my trainer's abilities?"

"Of course not. I just think that a Pokémon is blinded by how amazing their trainer is."

"So let me guess, you believe that your trainer is better than mine?"

"Of course," Bayleaf said immediately, her own prideful smile gracing her features, "He is going to be Pokémon Master one day."

"Well, my trainer is already the Pokémon Master."

Bayleaf looked about to reply when she stopped, mouth still open.

"What did you say?" Totodile asked, thinking he didn't hear correctly.

"I said that my trainer is already the Pokémon Master."

"You're lying," Phanpy said, glaring at the Umbreon.

"Why would I be lying?" she replied, backing up slightly at Phanpy's hard gaze.

Phanpy looked about to counter when Pikachu decided to intervene before a fight broke out.

"Settle down! We get it! We both have wonderful trainers! Let's just calm down!"

Phanpy was still fuming, but she calmed down slightly and backed away from the Umbreon, who in turn stared at Pikachu. She looked impressed.

"Now, what did you say your name was?" he asked the Umbreon politely, "I mean, if you don't go by 'Umbreon'."

"Oh!" she exclaimed, "Where are my manners? I'm Evershine! Please to meet you."

She held out a paw for Pikachu, who accepted it and shook it.

"I'm Pikachu, and this is Bayleaf, Totodile, Phanpy, Cyndaquill, and Noctowl."

"Pleased to meet you all!" she said, giving everyone a small bow out of respect, "I'm sorry about earlier. I just love meeting new Pokémon, and I probably made such a bad impression on you all."

Evershine's gaze lowered, and her ears went flat on her head. She seemed very upset. Bayleaf and Phanpy's expression's softened slightly.

"Milla says that I have a lot of enthusiasm, and though she loves me for it, I still need to control it, or other Pokémon will not want to be around me."

Her eyes started to become blurry as tears welled up in them.

"Hey, don't cry!" Pikachu said, wrapping an arm around Evershine, "I understand. We were just scared, since we thought you were going to attack us!"

"Attack you? Of course not!" Evershine seemed shocked by the notion.

"Ok, there we go!" Pikachu said, happy that everything was cleared up, "It was just a simple misunderstanding!"

"Well, I guess," Bayleaf said with an air of defeat, "I'm sorry I snapped at you before."

This seemed to cheer up Evershine greatly.

"Thank you for apologizing. I'm sorry as well."

Evershine gave them a smile that, for the first time, seemed genuinely warm. When her gaze turned to Noctowl once more, her eyes widened, though this time she looked concerned.

"Is Noctowl okay?" she asked, "He looks pretty beaten up. What happened?"

"Don't ask," Noctowl said, glaring at the ground as if it was its fault for his ailments.

"Why don't you come over to my place?" Evershine suggested, "My trainer should be able to fix you up good as new!"

Noctowl seemed tempted for a second, before shaking his head. Pikachu in turn spoke up.

"I'm sorry, but we really need to find Ash."

For one fleeting moment, Pikachu saw something change in Evershine's eyes. But before he could even figure out what that something was, it was gone.

"Is Ash the name of your trainer?"

"Yup, and we have to find him. He fell just like we did, and he might be in worse condition than we are."

"Fell?" Evershine seemed worried, "Fell from where?"

"We'll explain later," Bayleaf replied, to which Pikachu was grateful for, "We just want to find Ash and make sure he's okay. Do you think you can help us?'

Evershine smiled once again.

"I'll be happy to!"

With that, Evershine closed her eyes. Totodile looked confused, and was about to ask what she was doing when Pikachu held up a hand to stop him.

"She listening to see if she can hear Ash," Pikachu told Totodile, closing his eyes like Evershine and listening as well. He couldn't hear a thing.

However, Evershine must have had better ears than him, because when she opened her eyes, excitement shone from them.

"I think I hear them!" she said gleefully, "Three humans, two thirteen year olds and one twenty-five year old, is that correct?"

"That's them!" Pikachu said, hugging Evershine, "Thank you!"

Evershine seemed slightly embarrassed by the sudden expressed affection, but happiness radiated from her and she asked us to follow her further into the forest.

* * *

"Ash?"

Ash groaned, shifting to a more comfortable position.

"Ash, wake up!"

"But I don't wanna go to school!" Ash moaned, reaching for a pillow to block the sound from his ears.

"Ash, I'm serious! Get up!"

"Leave me alone, Mom!"

"Mom?"

Ash's fingers still fumbled for a pillow, but none greeted his hand. However, he simply grabbed the first thing that his hand touched, which happened to be... a rock? Ash's eyes opened with a start.

Misty was hovering above him, Togepi in hands, eyes full of concern. As soon as she noticed that he was awake, she smiled in relief.

"You okay?" she asked him, reaching out a hand to help him up.

"I'm fine, thanks Misty," Ash gratefully accepted the hand when ne noticed something.

Something weird.

"Misty, when did you start wearing make-up?" Ash asked. Misty looked surprised by this.

"I don't, why?" She seemed genuinely confused.

"Your cheeks are red."

Misty's eyes widened as she put a hand to her cheek.

"Um, I-isn't this m-my normal skin t-tone?" she stammered, leaving Ash even more confused than before. Misty never stammered.

"Is it?" Ash asked her, scratching his head, "I never noticed."

Misty seemed relieved, and she finally pulled Ash up.

"I'll go attend to Brock!"

Ash nodded, feeling oddly disappointed.

As Misty pulled Brock up, he whispered something in her ear.

"You have to tell him sometime."

Misty blushed once again, but nodded.

"Wait a minute!" Ash suddenly exclaimed, looking around him, "Where's my Pokémon?"

Everything came back to him at once.

"PIKACHU!" Ash shouted, running away from Misty and Brock, who sweatdropped.

"How did it take him so long to remember that his Pokémon weren't with him?" Misty asked no one in particular.

"Well, he did just fall from pretty high up, so he should be a bit dazed, at the least. It's a miracle that none of us broke anything."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," Misty muttered as Ash came running back past them, still screaming his friend's name, "We should probably help him, or he'll never find them." Brock nodded, and ran after Ash with Misty and Togepi close on his heels.

* * *

Evershine suddenly stopped, the other Pokémon almost running into her.

"What's the matter?" Pikachu asked.

"There's something there," Evershine replied, her eyes narrowing towards a group of bushes as she adopted what Pikachu recognized as a fighting stance. No one moved a muscle as she started to growl, taunting whatever threat she had sensed.

Her taunt had obviously done it's job, as a large, bear-like creature suddenly came charging out of the bushes, roaring.

"URSARING!" Totodile, quite unnecessarily, shouted.

The inside of the Ursaring's mouth started to glow, as he readied what the other's knew was a Hyper Beam. However, Evershine surprised them as she opened her mouth wide and readied a Hyper Beam of her own. Though even she started later than the Ursaring, Evershine was obviously faster, as the beam of light hit its target before the Ursaring could even attack. The Pokémon went soaring through the air, letting out one last feeble roar before it disappeared.

All we could do was stare at Evershine, who didn't appear at all fazed by the skirmish she had just participated in.

"Ugh, I hate wild Ursaring," she said, eyes still narrowed on the lookout for the Ursaring's friends, "Ursaring that don't attack you on sight are okay, I guess. Well, let's keep going. We still have to find your trainer."

If anyone had carried even the slightest bit of doubt in Evershine's abilities before, they certainly didn't now.

* * *

"PIKACHU! CAN YOU HEAR ME?"

"I'm pretty sure that the entire forest can hear you, Ash!" Misty said, covering her ears.

"Misty is right, Ash. We don't want to attract unwanted attention. I heard that there are Ursaring in these parts of the woods."

Ash and Misty's eyes widened at the same time.

"Ursaring?" they both said. Ash turned to Misty in surprise, a smile gracing his features for a small moment, while Misty just blushed and turned away. Brock had a strong urge to facepalm.

"Yeah, Ursaring," Brock repeated, "So let's just hope that we don't run across-"

He was interrupted from his thoughts when he saw a small brown dot in the sky. At first he thought it was just a Pidgeotto or Fearow, but then he noticed arms and legs, as well as a yellow ring in the center of its chest.

"FLYING URSARING! TAKE COVER!" Brock screamed, ducking behind a tree.

Ash, being the person he was, immediately did as Brock said and followed him behind the tree before he could even process Brock's words. Misty just stared at the two like they were mad.

"Is that supposed to be some lame attempt at a joke? Because it's not really that funny."

"Wait, it's a joke?" Ash said, partially coming out from behind the tree, only to be yanked back by Brock.

"I'm not joking Misty! Look above you!"

Misty decided to humor herself and looked up, just in time to let out a yelp as she dive-rolled to the side and narrowly avoided being squashed by the giant mass of brown fur. Misty couldn't help but stare as she realized that it was, in fact, and Ursaring. Brock seemed about to say something to her before she raised a hand, as if to stop him.

"I said when Spoink fly, not when Ursaring fly."

Brock looked disappointed.

"Isn't an Ursaring close enough?"

"No," Misty responded immediately, before turning on her heel and heading in the opposite direction. Brock sighed. He is going to get her to confess somehow.

"What do you think happened to it?" Ash asked Brock, looking at the Ursaring with a concerned look in his eyes. Brock couldn't help but feel impressed that Ash was caring so deeply for the wild Pokémon, even one as dangerous as Ursaring.

"It looks like it was hit with a Hyper Beam," Brock decided, looking at a circular scorch mark on its chest, "It must have gotten into a fight with another Ursaring."

"Well, I guess we know who lost," Ash said, looking at the bear with a new sense of fear.

"Yeah, we should probably go and catch up to Misty."

Ash didn't object to that at all.

* * *

Misty was really starting to hate herself. She could handle herself in plenty of dire situations, even if it was life threatening, but she couldn't control herself for five minutes when she was with someone she had been traveling with for three years? He was just too damn _cute_.

"Umbreon!"

Misty froze. She knew that call... What kind of Pokémon was that again?

"Um! Umbreon!"

 _Oh yeah! That's an Umbreon!_ Misty suddenly recalled, smiling at her knowledge of Pokémon.

"Toto-Totodile!"

 _That's a Totodile! Such a cute water Pokémon..._

"Pikachu!"

 _And that was a Pikachu,_ Misty thought to herself once again, feeling more pride well up inside of her with each Pokémon she guessed right.

Then she just realize what she had thought.

"Pikachu?" Misty turned towards the spot where she heard the Pokémon.

"Pi-chu! Pi!" A yellow animal suddenly ran out of the bushes and into her arms. She laughed as she stared into Pikachu's adorable eyes, hugging him tightly while trying not to squish Togepi (though Togepi seemed perfectly happy with the mouse-like Pokémon cuddling next to her).

"ASH! I FOUND PIKACHU!"

The tiny figure in the distance that Misty knew was Ash started approaching them at a much quicker pace, and Misty could make out a wide grin on his face.

"PIKACHU!"

"PIKAPI!" Pikachu jumped out of Misty's arms and ran towards his trainer. Misty smiled, though that was whipped from her face as she was roughly shoved by a Bayleaf with a Noctowl on her back, both who were eager to join in on the reunion. Soon, three other Pokémon came stampeding out of the bushes, and Misty had to sidestep them in order to not get knocked over.

Ash wrapped them all in a giant group hug, laughing with them all. Misty was touched to see that there were tears flowing down Ash's cheeks, a sigh that he was truly worried for his Pokémon, and had to resist the urge to cry herself. It reminded her how strong the bond between people and Pokémon could really be, and how Ash had truly reached the highest level of that.

It was one of the reasons she loved him so much.

She jumped when she heard another cry from below her.

"Umbreon!"

Misty realized that this must have been the Umbreon she had heard before, though her eyes widened as the realized that the rings on its black fur that normally were a bright yellow were a mysterious shade of blue. Misty was suddenly reminded of Ash's Noctowl, which was also a different color than normal Pokémon of its species.

Despite the uneasy feeling all dark type Pokémon carry with them, she smiled at the wild Umbreon and tried to show that she was a friend and not an enemy.

"Hello, I'm Misty."

The Umbreon gave what Misty realized was a smile, and she laughed as the Umbreon danced around her feet, crying out it's name. She was relieved that it wasn't going to attack her, or any of her companions.

Her guess that the Umbreon was tame was soon proven wrong as it saw Ash.

It's eyes widened, and it gave Ash a look that Misty couldn't figure out. Misty's first guess was that it wanted to attack, and her guess was immediately proven right as it charged.

"Ash! Look out!"

Ash raised his gaze towards Misty. His smile only widened, and he sent her a cheery wave. He was, as usual, completely oblivious to the threat that was the black furred Pokémon.

"Ash! It's attacking you!"

Ash's Pokémon must have picked up on the threat, as they all got off Ash and ran in the opposite direction. Ash seemed confused as his friends ran away from him, until he saw the Umbreon running straight towards him like a bird of prey. Ash could only stare in horror as the Pokémon pounced and pinned him to the ground. Misty screamed, and Brock could be heard calling out Ash's name.

But no one could have predicted what came out of Ash's mouth next.

"Evershine?"

 **Two chapters, and two cliffies. Well, at least you guys like it. Also, this is my first POKEMON story, not my first story. Believe me, my first story sucks. LOL anyway thanks for reading, and YOU ARE AWESOME!**

 **Catsrawesome**


	3. Psychic Moves Reknown

**Hi everyone! First of all, I want to thank everyone who reviewed! Your reviews mean the world to me, and I'm so glad that you all like my story!**

 **Second, I looked up Noctowl's moveset (as it was required for this chapter) and discovered that Ash's Noctowl never learnt Wing Attack, as I had mentioned in the first chapter. For anyone who was incredibly annoyed by me and hated me for making that mistake (AKA me), I have changed it to Sky Attack, which was a move that is definitely on Noctowl's moveset.**

 **Now, on to the story!**

None of us were even close to how shocked the Umbreon was, and that was definitely saying something.

Two silver eyes widened so that they looked like two shining moons, a mouth full of sharp teeth slightly agape. Suddenly, she closed her jaw with a quick snap, as if suddenly realizing it was open in the first place. Her eyes shone with the strange light both Pikachu and Misty had seen earlier, though now it was completely obvious what she was staring at Ash with.

Familiarity.

As Misty and Brock stared at both the Umbreon and Ash, they noticed that the same light the Umbreon held towards Ash was reflected in the young trainer's eyes. The other Pokémon stared at the Umbreon in a way that demanded explanation, and Ash's traveling companions caught on and adopted similar expressions. Neither Ash or the Umbreon seemed to notice.

"Evershine?" Ash repeated, "Is that really you?"

A sparkle of undeniable joy seemed to add a new sparkle in her eyes, and her face broke into what Misty recognized again as a smile as she suddenly gave Ash a wet kiss on the cheek, followed by laughter from the trainer with the now wet cheek. Ash managed to get to a sitting position and hugged the Pokémon tightly, the Umbreon responding with her own unique hug as she placed both paws upon Ash's shoulders and cuddled its head against Ash's.

"I've missed you," Ash muttered, so that the others had to strain to hear. The Umbreon called out her name in a way that spoke as clear as day that she had missed Ash as well.

"Woah woah woah, hold on for just a second," Brock said, holding his hands in a 'Time Out' gesture, "You know this Umbreon, Ash?"

"Sure do!" Ash said, grinning as he scratched the blue-ringed Pokémon behind the ears.

"B-b-but-" Misty once again cursed herself for stuttering, though she couldn't help it. It was way too much to wrap her head around, " _How?"_

"Does she belong to you?" Brock asked, and Misty was glad, since she couldn't trust herself to speak.

"No," Ash said, laughing as the Umbreon rolled over onto her back, exposing her chest for Ash to scratch, "Evershine belongs to a close friend of mine."

Ash suddenly frowned, the hand rubbing Evershine's chest faltering for a second.

"I haven't heard from her in a long time," he said, his cheery mood diminished, "I guess I haven't really been a good friend, huh."

Evershine must have picked up on Ash's mood, as it rolled back onto its feet and put both front paws on Ash's lap, staring into Ash's eyes with a look one could decipher as concern. Ash could see clearly in its eyes what it was trying to say.

 _It's okay._

"Don't ever say that again."

"Huh?" Ash looked up from Evershine and turned to Misty, who was looking furious. Ash cowered slightly under her glare, unsure what he could have done to anger her all of the sudden.

"Don't you _ever_ say that you are a bad friend, Ash," Misty growled, and the Pokémon seemed to sense danger, as they backed away from the fiery redhead as subtlety as they could manage.

"Um..." Ash hadn't expected _that_ from Misty.

"You are the kindest, sweetest, and most loyal person I have ever met," Misty said, practically pinning down Ash with a gaze so strong and intimidating that she could have pursued a job as a Sumo wrestler, "There is no way that you could be a bad friend to _anyone_ , and that's final."

"Misty's right, Ash," Brock said, giving Misty a nod of approval, "Just because you have been busy traveling and haven't seen her for a while doesn't make you a bad friend. You still care about this person, right?"

Ash nodded, slightly cheered up by Misty and Brock's kind words. Both Pikachu and Evershine shouted their names, expressing their agreement.

"And hey, this Umbreon belongs to your friend, right?" Ash nodded once again, "Then Evershine's owner should be close by. Maybe we could meet up with her."

A grin broke out on Misty's face, her appreciation for Brock growing with the idea he just presented.

"That's a great idea! I would love to meet her for myself."

However, instead of his happy mood being rejuvenated by the prospect of seeing his friend again, Ash frowned further, and the others were shocked to see a hint of horror in his eyes.

"Well, I'm sure she doesn't miss me," Ash said, his words slightly rushed. Misty's eyes narrowed as she detected the fib, though she didn't push it.

"What are you talking about?" Brock said, oblivious to Ash's white lie, "You were just going on about how much you missed her, and now you are reluctant to go and see her? What makes you think she wouldn't miss you?"

Ash didn't answer, busying himself with adjusting the eight badges that were embedded on the inside of his blue vest. Evershine's eyes narrowed once more, and she suddenly leaped off of Ash's lap and grabbed a hold of Ash's shirt, pulling him with her.

"Hey, cut it out!" Ash shouted, his voice suddenly stern.

Evershine didn't pay any heed to Ash's complains, only pulling harder.

"Um, Brock?" Ash said, not even bothering to hide his panic to his bewildered companions, "Where did you say we were again?"

"Hm..." Brock whipped out his trusty map and scanned over it, before turning back to Ash, "We are a few miles away from Saffron City. Hey, isn't that where Sabrina's gym is?" Brock's eyes suddenly glazed over, and a dopey smile dawned his features as he thought of the beautiful gym leader. Misty and the Pokémon sweatdropped.

Though the sweatdrop was absent from the raven-haired boy as Ash's panicked expression escalated to one of downright fear as he took in Brock's words. Evershine seemed to take this as an opening, as she started yanking on Ash's shirt with renewed vigor.

"No, I don't want to go back!" Ash scream, grapping onto the part of his shirt that Evershine had a firm grip on and tugging, engaging the black furred Pokémon in a fierce game of Tug-a-War.

"Um, go back to where?" Brock asked, scratching his head.

"You mean the gym?" Misty said, "I know that your first battle with Sabrina wasn't an experience you would like to repeat, but she's good now! Remember? You made her laugh with your Haunter."

 _But not before she turned me and Brock into dolls,_ Misty thought to herself, shuddering slightly at the unpleasant memory.

"Umbreon!" Evershine gave Ash one final yank, flinging him into the air with surprising strength and finally letting go. Ash screamed as he flew into the air, though his scream was cut off as he roughly hit the ground.

"Ow."

Evershine seemed unimpressed.

"Well, at least she let you go," Brock said.

Ash, realizing that Brock was right, let out a relieved sigh, though it was short lived as he stared at Evershine with a new sense of terror. Misty couldn't help but let out a small frightened gasp as she noticed the rings on Evershine's body glow a faint blue, as well as her silver eyes turn white.

"What's going on?" Brock said, eyes wide as Evershine became a living beacon right before their eyes.

His question was answered as Ash, letting out a strangled yelp, slowly rose into the air.

Ash's Pokémon, who hadn't spoke up for the entire exchange, let out outraged cries and stared accusingly towards Evershine, who wasn't taking her eyes off of the floating boy for even a second. Pikachu started to shout at the glowing Pokémon, though Evershine didn't at much as acknowledge his presence. This seemed to enrage Bayleaf further, as she launched a Razor Leaf before Pikachu could stop her.

The leaves never hit their target.

Bayleaf could only stare, shocked, as the sharp leaves started to slow in their journey towards the Pokémon holding Bayleaf's trainer hostage, before stopping completely just inches away from Ash and Evershine. She leaves hovered there for a second, before rotating and embedding themselves into the ground beneath them. Bayleaf let out a cry of disbelief, and the other Pokémon were similarly stunned.

"Evershine must be using Psychic," Brock observed, "That's how it managed to stop the Razor Leaf attack, as well as lifting Ash into the air."

"I noticed," Misty said, still shocked at the spectacle before her.

Before anyone could say anything else, Evershine began to walk forward, Ash floating like an oversized balloon above her.

"HELP!" Ash shouted, flailing his arms around helplessly, as if trying to use the air as an anchor.

Pikachu was the first to come to his senses, following Evershine and her captive, his companions close behind. Brock let out a sigh, as if more tired than worried for Ash's safety.

"We should probably follow them."

Misty simply nodded before following the Pokémon further into the woods.

* * *

Misty was relieved to see that Ash's protests at being Evershine's latest Psychic victim had subdued must quicker than his previous ranting.

He now was floating lazily in a lying-down position, legs crossed and hands behind the crook of his neck. Though he did seem to be very comfortable (besides the fact that he was suspended several feet in the air), his eyes did carry a certain hopelessness in them. Misty couldn't help but wonder where they could be going that could have upset Ash so deeply. Pikachu had attempted to converse with Evershine several times, most likely attempting to get this answer out of her, though all of Evershine's concentration seemed to be put in levitating Ash and focusing on the route they were taking, so she never replied. Pikachu soon gave up with chatting with the glowing Umbreon, and could only stare up helplessly at his friend.

Meanwhile, the Pokémon were having a very heated conversation that could only be understood to anyone else as noise.

"She lied to us!" Bayleaf cried out for the fourth time that day, "She said that she would never attack anyone, and now look! Ash is a good ten feet in the air with a very powerful Psychic attack! Who knows what kind of pain he could be in now? And there is nothing we can do about it! Pikachu already tried talking with Evershine, and she just ignores her! Talk about rude!"

Pikachu sent a glance towards his trainer, who didn't seem to be in any kind of pain at all, though Phanpy seemed to be on Bayleaf's side.

"I knew we shouldn't have trusted her," she muttered under her breath so silently that the other Pokémon could have almost mistaken her voice for a stray gust of wind, "She just wanted to become friends to us so that she could get close to our trainer. She was probably ticked off about our saying that Ash is the best Pokémon trainer in the world."

"Or at least he is going to be," Totodile added.

"I still think that we should wait before we attack Evershine," Pikachu said, met by a roll of the eyes from Bayleaf.

"Until when? Tomorrow? Next year?"

"You have brought that point up several times," Phanpy said, "and yet you never said _why_ we should wait. Do you even know yourself?"

Pikachu opened his mouth to speak, and then stopped, closing it. He would be lying to himself if he said that he had a logical reason for trusting Evershine. It was nothing more than a feeling, a hunch. But he could sense the aura of the Pokémon with the blue rings, and it definitely wasn't that of an evil Pokémon. Pikachu was saved by Noctowl, who was still perched upon Bayleaf's back.

"He might not know, but I do."

The other Pokémon all turned towards him, shocked.

"I know what a Psychic attack can do. I would know. I have never used the move Psychic myself, though I have used similar psychic moves, like Extrasensory and Confusion. I know enough about Psychic moves to know this: they aren't only used to damage an opponent. They can have more practical uses."

"Like what?" Cyndaquill asked, curious.

"Well, Confusion is a move that in battle, does a considerable amount of damage to any opponent while confusing him. Though if you applied the move Confusion in a different way, it can Confuse certain parts of the brain, which can tinker with his emotions or even his sanity. For example, you can alter the part of the brain that sends signals to other parts of the body to tell that the person is in pain. Alter that, and you can feel no pain."

The other Pokémon shuddered. They never knew that there was such a dark side to such psychic moves. They all made mental notes to themselves to not mess with Noctowl any time soon.

"Now, I know that it may sound horrible to you," Noctowl said, noticing the expressions on his companions, "but it's not only used to alter the brain. You familiar with the move Dream Eater?"

The others nodded.

"It does a lot of damage to a sleeping opponent, right?" said Cyndaquill.

Noctowl nodded in approval.

"Though it doesn't always to _damage_ to sleeping opponents. It can also do exactly what its name says, which is, to be exact, eat dreams. Including Nightmares."

"So a psychic Pokémon can use Dream Eater to rid of bad dreams?" Totodile asked.

"Exactly! So, as you can see, Evershine here is using Psychic, a very powerful psychic move. One of the most powerful psychic moves, actually. Psychic can also be used, when it isn't being used to damage an opponent, to just simply levitate and control other objects, or even Pokémon and people. So Evershine isn't hurting Ash at all. She is just using the attack to lift Ash in the air and take him where she wants him to go."

Bayleaf and Phanpy still didn't seem entirely convinced, but the others let out a sigh of relief. At least Ash was okay. Pikachu send Noctowl a grateful look, who only smiled back.

 _It was nothing._

Pikachu wondered if it was due to one of Noctowl's psychic attacks that Pikachu understood him so well that very moment, but then decided against it. Only friendship could work magic like that.

* * *

"Brock, do _you_ know where we are going?"

Brock looked at the map again (which he was holding upside down) and shook his head.

"We passed Saffron city a while ago. We don't seem to be going anywhere specific."

Misty sighed, her head lowering. She had been hoping to stop in Saffron City to rest and take a shower. That was all down the drain now, as the infuriating Umbreon seemed unlikely to stop for a while.

Evershine seemed determined to prove Misty wrong each time, as she suddenly broke into a run, Ash soaring above her.

"WOAH!" Ash lost his balance and started flipping in midair, arms flailing around to grab something to steady himself, though the air managed to disappoint him once again.

"HELP!" he screamed.

"Hang on Ash!" Misty called out, already hot on Evershine's trail.

The Pokémon were all pulled away from their conversation by Ash's scream, and they all rocketed past Misty, Pikachu in the lead like the General leading his troops to battle. In that, Pikachu was the first to emerge from the trees into the sunlight, the first to have his eyes widen and his jaw fall to the ground, and the first to read the sign that he and the others (who had nearly run over the Electric Mouse Pokémon at his sudden stop) had to crane their neck to see, for it was meant for human eyes. When Brock and Misty caught up to the others, the found that Evershine had finally dropped Ash (literally, as Ash was rubbing his sore bottom, which was where most of the impact had been) in front of the sign. Brock took the liberty of reading the sign out loud for the others.

"Welcome to the Psychics' Training Academy, the School for the Gifted and Powerful."

 **And let the theories begin! I would love to know what you think is gonna happen! I will give virtual cookies to whoever can guess it right!**

 **YOU ARE AWESOME!**

 **Catsrawesome**


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